Brexit is still as confusing and uncertain as it was back in June 2016 when a majority of the British public voted to leave the 28-member trading bloc.
Brexit continues to throw up twists and turns at every given opportunity and as the official departure date of March 29 approaches we're still no closer to establishing what the future relationship between the U.K. and EU will be. After more than two years of negotiations, the U.K. and EU finally reached a Brexit deal last November, only for it to be rejected by British lawmakers in January.
Brexit took a distinctly different course on Tuesday. May appeared to bow to pressure from pro-Remain members of her own government and party, by offering Parliament a vote on whether to leave the EU without a deal, or whether the U.K.'s departure from the EU on March 29 should be delayed for a"limited" amount of time. These extra votes will only happen if Parliament rejects her amended Brexit deal for a second time on March 12.
For instance, the opposition Labour party has tabled an amendment calling on fellow MPs to support its alternative Brexit plan which would see the U.K. remain in a customs union with the EU among other closer links. Labour said if that proposal was rejected, it would support another Brexit referendum, sending it back to the British citizens.
This option is unpopular with most MPs and businesses as it would entail much economic uncertainty. The government issued a warning this week that the economy would be up to 9 percent weaker over the next 15 years, under this scenario, than it would have otherwise been. The vote on March 13 means that the U.K. would only leave without a deal on March 29"if there is explicit consent in the House for that outcome," May told Parliament on Tuesday.
"One can expect to hear diplomats saying an extension beyond end June would not be possible. But the costs of 'no deal' are sufficiently large to make the costs of dealing with this issue look like a mere inconvenience, and it would not be rational to go through with a 'no deal' on the basis of that inconvenience alone," Malcolm Barr, a J.P.Morgan economist, said in a note Wednesday. If Parliament rejects an extension on March 14, the U.K.
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